Who's Trophy?
by LadyHammer
Summary: Axl is put in a strange predicament, and before he can realize it, he's soon swept up in a strange almost soap-opera like problem. He'll have to find comical ways to tie things together, and eventually, come to a conclusion.
1. Ch: 1 Clarification, Please?

LadyHammer: w00t w00t, it's me again! I'm having fun putting Axl in these crazy little predicaments, so, I'm back to do it again! And I luff Palette! I haven't really gotten a chance to play much of X8 yet, but geezus, I luff her! She's so cute n' fiestay! xD Anyway... this was a cute idea I had. It's gonna be pretty dramatic... lol as in 'soap opera' dramatic... but it'll be like... a soap opera comedy. A really weird one. And a really cute one. Teehee I just can't wait till I get the rest of the plot in! Wheee!

**Disclaimer: I dun own nobody. Capcom does. HAH YOU CAN'T SUE ME NOW! Oh wait, I do own Ribbon, tho... yeah, but that's about it, I think...**

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I yawned and lazily tossed around in my bed, refusing to wake up. It was such a nice, warm and fuzzy morning, and I didn't want to wake up. The sun shone delicately through my window, and the sunlight poured all the way across the room. A patch of light was over my waist underneath my soft blanket, and I gazed dreamily to the ceiling. The warm morning sun's warmth flooded over me and I broke into a content smile. The morning was perfect. Too bad I was on duty in half an hour.

Or, maybe in this instance, _now_…

"AXL!"

I gave a groggy sigh and pushed myself out of bed, putting on an annoyed, smug face as I walked over to my door, my dusty blue blanket still slung over me. There was a heavy knocking at the door, and a pounding in the back of my head formed a matching beat. If I wasn't mistaken, a very irritated navigator was behind my bedroom door.

I pressed a button on the keypad on the wall, and the door slid open to reveal a very frustrated looking short blonde girl. Her tiny eyebrows expressed a very fed-up emotion. One was cocked high, and the other one sunk down right over one of her blue eyes. Her blonde hair was tightly pulled back into a hardly noticeable bun at the nape of her neck, and she was dressed for duty except for her unusually large headset. I wonder what it was I had done _this_ time.

"Do you have ANY idea… OOH, you're in so much trouble…" she muttered, staring up at me. I pouted, feeling sort of helpless and confused. I didn't want to get in trouble… I didn't do anything!

"What did I do?" I asked meekly. Palette wasn't a girl you wanted to get in a tangle with when she was in an irritated mood. Trust Zero… he's been in one of those tangles before. Him and Palette don't talk much anymore.

"WHAT DID YOU DO?" Palette exclaimed, throwing her arms up in astonishment. "HOW CAN YOU NOT KNOW?"

"… I think I missed something…" I mumbled with a sigh. I fidgeted with the end of my long, loose tank top, wanting desperately to return to my warm bed under the sunlight.

"Oho! You seem to have forgotten! You're coming with me, mister!" Palette said snobbishly, grabbing onto my ear and pulling me out of my doorway and dragging me down the halls.

"OW! Palette, stop! Lemme go! I didn't do anything!" I yelped, running behind her in hopes of stopping the pain searing in my poor ear. How degrading…

Palette didn't say a further word, and continued to march down the halls in her stuffy mannerisms, her nose up in the air. The other late morning reploids on duty who were in the hall glanced at me and sighed in sympathy, continuing to go their ways. How rude! Can't even help a guy out, can they…?

I ended up being pulled into an office where Signas, Layer, and Alia were all waiting for me. It seemed that Palette was supposed to go in, too, but she was so miffed she marched right back out after shoving me in the room. Alia stifled a laugh, seeing me still in my sleep clothes, probably looking pretty ridiculous in a white tank top 2 sizes too big, and a pair of long dark red shorts. My hair wasn't too nice looking either, not that I kept it well groomed, anyway. Wisps of stray orangish brown hair were all over the place, and my bangs were having a hard time finding their way out of my groggy, tired eyes.

"We're sorry about this, really…" Signas started in a spiritless tone, giving an annoyed sigh. "But she insisted."

"Just goes to prove a few points, actually…" Layer said with a shrug, looking towards the ceiling, pushing her long violet bangs out of her topaz eyes. Alia couldn't keep a giggle in any longer.

"Poor Palette… if only she could realize it…" she muttered to Layer, her words coming out a bit more audible than expected, however. I guess by now I was helplessly confused. No, way beyond that. What was going on?

"Umm… is asking questions pretty much… _out_ of the question right now?" I asked, giving an uneasy frown and looking off to the side. Signas gave a very amused chuckle.

"I think this is better under _your_ interpretation rather than ours, Axl. We wouldn't want to start some 'he-said-she-said' game, here…" he replied. I cocked an eyebrow. Nothing was making any sense. Signas pressed a button on the office desk, and a panel on the wall slid up to reveal a large screen and a keypad next to it. He pressed a few things on the pad, and finally, a list showed up on the screen.

"What's that?" I asked. By now, both Layer and Alia were trying to stifle their girlish giggles, leaving me standing here like a clueless, feeble moron. I couldn't help but feel a little bit embarrassed. Signas cleared his throat and began pointing to things on the screen.

"This is a chart showing which navigators you, X, and Zero chose for various areas of investigation and other tasks you've had to carry out. Notice _your_ column…" he said. Alia sat on her hands, curious as to what I might make of this, while Layer just laid back in her chair and smirked.

_AXL -_

_Sector :Spotter:  
__RFOREST5 . . . . . . .PALETTE  
__BFOREST01. . . . . .PALETTE  
__99TROPIC. . . . . . . .PALETTE  
__DES-176. . . . . . . . .ALIA  
__DES-176-2. . . . . . . .ALIA  
__005TROPIC. . . . . . .LAYER  
__COAST550. . . . . . . .ALIA  
__WRHSE8. . . . . . . . . .LAYER  
__AREA8711-R. . . . . . .RIBBON  
__59540LAB. . . . . . . . .ALIA  
__COAST006. . . . . . . . .ALIA  
__LAB-FAL4. . . . . . . . . .ALIA_

I looked at the list with a bewildered look upon my face. So? What was this supposed to mean? I hope it's got nothing to do with that one sector the 5th Unit's navigator had to help us with. That was a one time thing. And Palette was the only one who didn't like Ribbon.

"… I don't get it," I said finally. Layer smirked and stood up, patting me on the back.

"It's okay, kid," she said, moving her bangs out of her face again. I looked up at her with very sarcastic face.

"You only call me that 'cause Zero occasionally does," I remarked. Too bad Layer's bangs weren't longer. They might have been able to hide her blush.

"Hey. It's catchy. But see how many times you've had Palette help you with a sector?" she asked, pointing to the list of spotters on my column.

"Yeah. So? It's more than I've had _you_ help me…"

I had a feeling I wasn't scoring real well with Layer this morning. She'd probably be shooting me a dirty look here or there today.

"C'mon. Try to understand this, okay? You're a smart kid, so make use of the impish little processor in your head, got it?" she replied once more. I folded my arms.

"Sure."

"Alright, then. How many missions does this list display? 12? You've had Palette's help three times, mine two, Ribbon's once, and Alia's six times. Palette's pissed beyond pissed. This matter is for some reason now glorified, BY HER," she explained calmly. I'm surprised she hasn't snapped at me yet. I always thought it'd be fun to try n' pick at her for a day just to see if she really _could_ get angry.

"So? Why's it such a big deal?" I asked. Alia giggled.

"It's okay, Layer, he doesn't understand," she said. Signas rolled his eyes.

"Guess that's what I get for having a vast majority of female navigators," he said. "Gossip out the wazoo."

"Where's the wazoo?" I asked, cocking an eyebrow. Alia broke out in another giggle fit at my either naivety or immaturity. Or, most likely, both.

"Never mind. Ask Zero. You'd best be off to get ready for your tasks, today. Zero's leading his unit into a costal area we haven't charted, yet. Normally, we'd have you, him, and X go through the area first, but it was under an already tranquil-charted area, so I'm sure it won't be much of a big deal. I'd like it if you followed him out there, today. I've noticed you're a bit clumsy in the rockier areas… maybe you can learn a thing or two out there, today," Signas replied. "It'll be good for you."

I sighed, shrugging.

"Whatever," I replied. "If one of you decides to fill me in on what Palette's deal is, I'll be with Zero, I guess."

And then, simple as that, I exited the room. Palette had been standing outside the room the whole time, her arms folded and her face still smug and her nose in the air. I looked back at her in a way I wasn't expecting. My jade green eyes made contact with her slightly glassy azure ones, and I gave her a look that felt like a sincere, calm, sympathetic apology. I don't know if she took it all in or not, but whatever it was I did, I felt kind of bad. I hadn't meant to make her so upset. I turned away and made my way back down the halls.

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Yaaay chapter two is on it's way! Things aren't really plotified yet, but I think is a good intro to the plot. Anyway, please review and tell me what you think! It's in that lil' drop down menu thingy over there! The one on the bottom left corner of your screen:D I'd love to hear what ya have to say.


	2. Ch: 2 Still unclear

**Wu-hell... lookies like there's something wrong with the spacebar that I'm using and it's a-pissin' me offa... xD Anyway... it seems to be that we're on chapter two of Who's Trophy! Yay! Mwahaha now the plot SLOWLY comes into play... kudos to whoever can make a correct guess at what's gonna happen. :D**

**Now... ON WIT DAH FICCY!**

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Well, my morning had started out pretty weird. Not much I can do about that, I guess. I wanted to make things better between Palette and I, but, you know, it'd probably be safe to give her some time to cool off. Whatever I had done to upset her, I had sure done a good job with… and geez, I felt pretty bad about it!

But, I was on duty soon. X was probably filling out the last of his paperwork right now, since last time I checked, Signas had given him some more. Zero was probably attempting to do the same thing, but he was such a procrastinator, he let all of his paperwork pile up. He'll probably roar out in frustration in a few seconds.

"DAMMIT! FREAKIN' PAPERCUT!"

Yeap.

My paperwork was easy, and I hardly ever got any, so I didn't really know the 'legal document trauma', as Zero called it. Might as well go check up on him!

I skipped down the hallway with all of the dorms, not even paying attention to the fact I was still dressed in my sleep clothes and hadn't had a shower yet and I probably looked pretty ridiculous.

"WHERE THE HELL IS IT!"

Zero probably just needed something to take his mind off of his paperwork. I honestly don't know why he still does it. He puts it off for so long it's like it doesn't even matter anymore. He didn't just dig himself in a hole. He practically dug himself out the other end of the Earth…

"_WHAT THE HELL IS THIS SUPPOSED TO MEAN_?"

I got to his door and knocked lightly, smiling big, hoping he wouldn't be in too bad a mood to let me in.

"WHO WANTS SOME? WHO? WHO? DAMMIT I'M BUSY, WHAT KIND OF AN AS"

"Hey, Zero, it's just me!" I replied cheerily. "Just wanted to know if you wanted some help with that paperwork of yours, or maybe if you wanted to take a break or somethin!"

"… How'd you know I was doing paperwork?" Zero asked, opening up the door. Gosh, he was so much taller up close. I never noticed how much taller than me he is. He was wearing some comfy looking shorts and a black sweatshirt with a broken pencil in his hand. I smiled and stepped on his socked foot.

"Good morning!" I said. Zero chuckled and shook his head, turning away.

"C'mon in, kid," he said. "My room is kinda messy, so"

"Geezus, Zero… do you _ever_ do wash?" I shouted. His room wasn't just messy, it was a complete disaster! He had random clothes lying in every corner, and yet there were still more piles all around his bed, and boxes full of who knows what.

"Of course. There's clean clothes. I just gotta sniff 'em first…" Zero answered. I sort of cringed, still taking in the mess of his room. "Oh, come on! You can't tell me you've never done the sniff test… everyone does it at least SOMETIME…!"

Heh, well… I admit, I have done it a few times… but my room was spotless. I'd die if I ever let my room get in the condition of his! At least it was cozy, I guess.

"Umm… well… that's not the point. Do you want some help?" I asked. Zero shrugged, running a hand through some of his extensively long, thick hair. He had so much of it…

"Nah… not really. Why don't you sit down? Why're you up so early, anyway?" he asked me. I looked around for a place to sit, not really seeing one except for his bed. I'm sure he didn't mean for me to sit anywhere else, so I plopped down on his soft white sheets.

"Eh… Palette woke me up. I had this big issue with Signas and the navigators…" I answered. Zero tossed me a soda, and sat back down at his desk, which was just as messy as the rest of his room. I could've sworn I saw a streak of anger in his cerulean eyes.

"Hn… what was that about?" he asked smugly, filling out some blank spaces on a document. I didn't really want to answer… it didn't sound like he was gonna be in too great of a mood.

"Err… you sound kinda mad…" I said, opening my soda can. Zero stubbornly snorted and looked for a pen to do his paperwork, as the broken pencil bit wasn't really working.

"Palette's got something to do with this issue, doesn't she?" he asked. I looked to the side.

"Um… yeah… she's the one who started, it actually… or, according to Signas and everyone else… but I didn't really understand what the big deal was…" I told him. A desk drawer slammed as Zero found a pen. Yup, he wasn't happy.

"Figures. She's such a snooty drama queen… I don't now why we have to deal with her, and I don't see why she's always got to make such a big deal over the things you do," he said.

"I made her upset, though, Zero! She was about to cry!" I replied, trying to make him understand that Palette wasn't as bad as he thought she was.

"Oh, really? And what did you do to make her so sad?" he asked me, leaning on his desk while he looked me in the eye.

"I… well, that's what I didn't understand…" I answered meekly. "It had something to do with the spotters I picked for my missions… I think she's upset that maybe I stopped having her help me with them…"

"So quit messin' with her! If she's gonna make you feel bad over something like that"

"Zero, it's okay, really. I'm fine, I just"

Zero slammed his fist on the desk and I flinched, jumping back on the bed a little. He turned away and started scribbling on his desk.

"… Sorry, kid," he muttered. "I'm just frustrated. You okay?"

PFFT, he's sure moody this morning…

"Heh, are YOU okay? You're the one who's slamming the fists on the tables, after all…" I said, grinning. Zero looked at me and smiled, too.

"I'm fine. Thanks… I'm sorry 'bout"

"Zero. It's fine," I said again. He nodded and started to fill some more blanks on another document. He was a lot more content now that I had been in the room, and once or twice I thought I saw him blush through the silence. I wonder what inside joke he must've been playing over in his head…

"So… um… why exactly do you have so much against Palette?" I asked suddenly.

That quickly became the question you _never, **ever**_ ask Zero. Ever.

"WHY do I dislike Palette! WHY? THINK about it, Axl. JUUUUST think. It might not be an easy concept for you to grasp just yet, but Palette and I have a huge reason to fight with each other. Palette's just an annoying little snot-faced whiny girl, and all she does is pick on you, Axl," he said sharply. "And I'm not going to stand for that. I hate it when she does what she does to you, Axl, because you don't seem to realize that she just berates you in front of everyone! If… if I had a say in the matter…"

His voice trailed off, and he turned away from me and leaned his head on the palm of his hand while slumping over on his desktop.

"If it were up to me…"

"HEY YOU GUYS! THREE MINUTES LATE! GET READY!"

There was X's voice coming down the halls. I had completely forgotten that I was on duty soon! Had time really passed that fast! That's crazy… guess I sure did a crappy estimation. Zero stood up and lightly shoved me out of his room.

"Better go get ready, kid. And… just… be careful around her, okay? She may be upset, I realize that, but… don't let her get on your case, alright?" he said to me. I nodded, and walked down to my room.

Geez… I was really losing what little scraps of concepts I had been able to grab onto before. This Palette and Zero conflict is… probably going to drag me into a HUGE issue soon… great.

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**Mwaha! Like I said... if you can guess what's gonna happen, j00 get a cookie! w00t w00t! Wait, no, you're gonna get a kudo... or... whatever. lol. RxR, please:D**


	3. Ch: 3 Diminishing Fog

**My goodness… I didn't even think anyone read my fics anymore, but I keep getting e-mail notifications that I got a new review on one of my X fanfics! Ahh, you lucky guys, I'm gonna do this just for you! I hope you're reading:D

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A navigator wasn't needed for this mission. It was easy. The three of us, X, Zero and myself, were merely doing some scouting for anything interesting. New power sources, suspicious leads, missing soldiers, you know, that sort of stuff. Signas had been right, too, because I was a little bad with rocky areas. While hugging a cliff-side to get to the top, I fell, and boy did I _plummet_! Luckily, X and Zero raced down to get to me when I hit the bottom, and Zero helped me up a bit. I wasn't too roughed up, though, but I would have to take a visit to the repairs lab when we got back.

We didn't find anything, 'cept for a few data crystals. Data-crystals were this new substance that Alia discovered not too long ago from an area sample that X brought back from a coastal region.

Don't ask me what data they have, though. I don't pay attention to any of the debriefing or mission summaries. Pallette used to bark at me for what a small attention span I had. The funny thing is that Zero does the same thing.

Those two have a lot in common.

Well… at least a lot in common when it comes to _me_. That's odd. I suppose it's one of those things that will "all make sense to me in years to come" or whatever.

So anyway… when we came back from the cliff region, I headed straight for the repairs lab. As usual, Pallette was stationed there. Since Alia's promotion, the pink navigator patrols the halls when she's not helping us, Layer monitors the communications room, and Pallette does her work at the repairs lab. She's not that bad, really, but I like to think that there are better nurses out there.

"… H-hello, Pallette," I murmured when I came into the lab. Of course, I was terrified of her at this point. Neither of us had apologized yet, and I know how she is. She's very touchy about that. Holds grudges like you wouldn't _believe_…

"Hello, Axl!"

"… Hi."

"What happened to you! Did you get attacked? Ambushed, maybe? Chased?"

"Erm… no, actually I fell."

She wasn't as hostile as I had expected. Good. That was always nice. She and Zero were sharing moodswings today, I think.

"Oh… well, here, let me take your stuff off and see if I can fix it up for you," she said, helping me slip my helmet off. She had such nimble hands. They were quick and very agile. Mine, however, fumble around constantly. On average, it takes me about two hours to take off all my crap after a mission.

When she was in the middle of helping me take off my body armor, that's when Zero walked in. At first he didn't say anything, but his eyes grew wide, and his cheeks grew red, however I couldn't tell by the look in his eyes if the red cheeks were from anger or embarrassment.

"_You_…"

"_Me_? YOU!" Pallette shouted back, suddenly stepping away from me. She turned to Zero, fuming, and put her hands on her hips.

"He doesn't need any attention! Come on, Axl!" Zero roared, not even taking a second to remove his glare from Pallette to look me in the eye.

"No! Axl needs his scrapes on his arms and legs attended to, and his armor needs to be hauled down to the repairs garage!" the navigator snapped back, narrowing her eyes.

"Fine, then I'll do it. Come on, Axl!"

But… what was I supposed to do! I looked helplessly at the both of them, wishing so terribly for some sort of distraction. This was horrible…

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**Yeah I know, I'm sorry it's not very long... I'll get a longer chapter up here soon, though, don't worry! I just wanted to let you guys know that I'm still out here somewhere. **


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